Saturday, April 8, 2017

Of blue saris and Mr India

I have recently learned how to do felting and there is something really therapeutic about poking wool with a felting needle. I wanted to make a waldorf inspired doll using felting after seeing some beautiful ones on pinterest. The main point of these dolls is the pose and clothes and colors to convey the emotion as the face is left completely bare. As there are no expressions to read and focus on, the viewer bonds with the finished piece by only looking at the doll as a whole. I enjoyed making this and draping the sari around my doll. The armature is made from pipe cleaners which I got from a local craft store. I got the felt from the Spring Knitting and Stitching show at Kensington Olympia.
Once I had the basic armature in place the doll came together fairly quickly. I love the ethereal feel of this doll. She looks like she might float away if one looked away for even a moment.

I took inspiration from the film Mr India which was released when I was a kid and I really loved it. Although it had all the ingredients of a hindi potboiler, it was amazing to see science fiction in a bollywood film! "Mr India" went on to become a blockbuster hit and the blue sari clad Sridevi in the song "Kaate nahi kat te" created quite a sensation. I recently saw another filme, "Gundaay" , which was based in the 80s and it had a crucial scene from the film shot while the protagonists were out watching "Mr India" and we get to see them while they are watching the same song. Which goes on to show how iconic this film was for the 80s. Here is a still of the lovely Sridevi from this song:

That's it for now. I will get down to blogging more frequently. I feel like I do not have much to say usually and whatever I make is probably not as great to be shared. But I will get better at it I do hope.